{"id":9682,"date":"2025-12-06T14:28:38","date_gmt":"2025-12-06T03:28:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onthecoastpublications.com.au\/onthecoastfamilies\/?p=9682"},"modified":"2025-12-06T14:28:40","modified_gmt":"2025-12-06T03:28:40","slug":"naturopath-healthy-christmas-holiday-survival-mindful-eating","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onthecoastpublications.com.au\/onthecoastfamilies\/naturopath-healthy-christmas-holiday-survival-mindful-eating\/","title":{"rendered":"Stress-Free Holidays! A Naturopath\u2019s Guide to Mindful Eating & Balancing Health During Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Written by Diana Arundell \u2013 The Avoca Naturopath & Nutritionist<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For people who have enhanced their health through positive diet and lifestyle habits, the Christmas and holiday season can create stress about \u2018undoing\u2019 all the good work. Optimal health is all about balance as well as feeling happy, so not allowing oneself to enjoy special occasions can be a bit of a misery trap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Naturopathically, balancing strong foundations of health is always the key and these foundations include nutrition, water, sleep, exercise and de\u2013stressing\/joy\/happiness. These foundations sustain our health all year around, holiday season or no.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christmas and holiday time is all about special traditions, celebration, sharing and experiencing the people in your inner circle. Celebratory food is certainly part of this, but it is just a part of the whole experience. It is no fun nor is it good for your health to \u2018restrict\u2019 or feel guilty about eating special food, its simply about being mindful about what feels good for your individual body and overall health. If Christmas holiday time is a stressful time for you, try doing things a little differently this year and checking in with your own foundations of health and wellness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nutrition<\/strong>
Christmas holiday season usually brings with it exciting traditional food and celebrations. When it comes to nutrition, it\u2019s all about balance and when it comes to food, it\u2019s about quality, not quantity. Stick to one plate so you can be mindful of your portions. Take time to look at, smell, appreciate all the colours and tradition that appear on your plate. Eat slowly and remember that the food is part of the special occasion, not the occasion being part of the food. Try and stick to 80% of your plate being filled with vegetables\/salad (as many colours as possible), 20% protein and then small amounts of all the other delicious accompaniments. Mindfully chew and acknowledge the tradition of what you are eating and of course honour who spent time preparing it for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do not fall into the trap of mindlessly eating huge amounts of food or eating to be polite. Your health is a priority, and your body is counting on you to look after it. Fill up on the healthy choices and this will crowd out the less healthy options such as nutritionally deplete snacks and sweets. Even just a small serving of desert can be very satisfying if savoured and eaten mindfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overeating on the pre\u2013dinner snacks such as hefty cheese platters or chips can be difficult to manage for some people and it\u2019s always an option to bring a starter platter that you feel comfortable eating. Colourful vege sticks with avocado dip or humus, fruit, nuts, rice crackers, different coloured olives can create a colourful, nutritious, grazing platter adding much more value to your health than artificially flavour\u2013enhanced chips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christmas can leave us with an over\u2013supply of chocolate and sweets that people gift when they come to visit. Consider taking flowers or something that is going to add value to someone\u2019s health. Make it good quality dark chocolate or a beautiful, colourful, fresh fruit platter with seasonal fruits such as berries, mangos and cherries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just in the same way that you may not want to be pressured into eating and drinking things you don\u2019t want to, there\u2019s no need to convince anyone else about what they should be doing to better their health. As they say, stay in your own lane and simply be the change you want to see in you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Water<\/strong>
Staying hydrated is essential for physical and mental health. Aim to drink a litre of water before 12 noon and a litre of water before 5pm. Adequate water intake will help counteract the dehydrating effects of alcohol and support good elimination via the kidneys and bowels. At times we can mistake dehydration for hunger which can lead to unnecessary snacking. Remember the good old rule of alternating one alcoholic drink with one glass of water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to drinking alcohol, there are some healthier options that are lower in sugar and may lead to less bingeing and feeling unwell the next day. Consider cleaner options such as white spirits (gin and vodka) mixed with plain mineral or soda water with fresh lime. As it\u2019s less sweet, it won\u2019t be as easy to consume. Avoid higher sugar mixers such as tonic\/soft drink, pre\u2013mixed flavoured mineral water and ciders or too much beer. Saying no to soft drinks generally is a good way to reduce sugar or nutritionally void chemicals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other option to reduce excessive alcohol intake is to volunteer to be the driver. It can give a different perspective on life at this time of the year!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sleep<\/strong>
Remember to take time to sleep, rest and rejuvenate the body, especially if you are taking time off work. Don\u2019t be afraid of saying no to a few things in order to take time for your own health. Taking care of yourself is not selfish. Saying no because you can\u2019t be bothered is different to saying no because you\u2019re exhausted and need time to rejuvenate yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exercise<\/strong>
It can be difficult to avoid consuming much more food than usual during the Christmas period and often when we have larger portions, it can contribute to tiredness, lethargy and just wanting to collapse on the couch. The best thing you can do if you\u2019ve overeaten, is move your body and go for a walk. It will help balance blood sugar levels and support digestion. In any case, leave the phone at home and take in the beauty of nature around you. The temperature of the air, the types of trees and colour of the leaves and any wildlife you may notice when you\u2019re aware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

De\u2013stress\/joy\/happiness
<\/strong>If you are one of the people that feels you must do it all \u2013 the organising, the shopping, the cleaning up\u2026. Please let people help, have fun and most of all don\u2019t take yourself too seriously. Keep perspective about this time of year, stay humble and consider that burn out may be a sign of over\u2013ambition. Stop, breathe and consider a new perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For further information or to make an appointment please visit avocanaturopath.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diana is a university qualified naturopath practicing on the Central Coast since 2002. Her goal is \u2013 helping people create healthier, happier lives combining the best of traditional wisdom and modern science while addressing physical, emotional and mental wellbeing from the inside out, through conscious health alignment. Diana has a love of education (teaching and learning) and was a lecturer of Nutrition at Macquarie University and also taught clinical skills at the University of Newcastle. She received the Dean\u2019s award for \u2018Academic Excellence\u2019 whilst studying the Bachelor of Health Science (Complementary Medicine) at Charles Sturt University.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by Diana Arundell \u2013 The Avoca Naturopath & Nutritionist For people who have enhanced their health through positive diet and lifestyle habits, the Christmas and holiday season can create…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9683,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sync_status":"none","episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"","castos_file_data":"","podmotor_file_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[116,34],"series":[],"class_list":["post-9682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-wellbeing","tag-article","tag-diana-arundell"],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/onthecoastpublications.com.au\/onthecoastfamilies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/12\/healthy-holiday.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/onthecoastpublications.com.au\/onthecoastfamilies\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/onthecoastpublications.com.au\/onthecoastfamilies\/feed\/podcast\/default-podcast","embedCode":"

Stress-Free Holidays! A Naturopath\u2019s Guide to Mindful Eating & Balancing Health During Christmas<\/a><\/blockquote>